Weapons
by Maximillian Havisham
Summary: "We were made into weapons. No one said we had to live our lives as such." A Wolverine/X-23 one-shot.


**I do not own Wolverine, X-23, or the X-Men they are all properties of Marvel.**

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><p>The Iron Kidney, a quaint pub tucked away in the back alleys of Queens, New York. Nothing inside but tough bastards and even tougher staff. Not the kind of place one can get into or even know about without some type of reputation. Brawls are encouraged, as long as the bouncers can get a piece of the action for themselves. They say it's because their Irish blood won't let 'em miss a fight. I say they just like getting their knuckles dusted every now and again.<p>

How long have I been here? I can't remember, the beer is starting to get to me. Not that I'm complaining, I need a break every once in a while. Running a school is hell, and those damn kids don't make it any easier. If I could use Hank's machine I woulda went back in time and punched myself for making that idiot decision. Ororo and Hank keep riding my ass about being more involved with the school, hell even Kurt's naggin me; damn elf.

Maybe they're right, I don't know. Between that and the Avengers, I've barely had any time to myself. I think I'm entitled to stumble home every now and again.

…

"Hey girlie, you lost or something?" One of the bouncers asked someone at the door, Terry by the sounds of it. Guy was always gung ho about scaring patrons. I turned around to get a look, but the bastard's so big I couldn't see anything. I turned right around and kept drinkin, not my business. Serves them right though, this isn't a place for college students looking for fun.

"I am looking for someone. I was told he would be here." The voice caught my attention and I shot up like a rocket.

"Oh yeah?" Terry asked, I could tell he was going to try something. If the girl is who I think she is, ol' Terry wouldn't be trying anything else for a long time. "Well you're in luck, because I-"

I placed my hand on his shoulder, cutting him off. He gave me a look, it's obvious he'd been drinkin. "Should you really be drinking on shift, Terry? Bet the old man wouldn't like that." I gave him a smirk. He took the hint and backed off.

"Geez Logan, all you had to say was that she was with you." Terry walked back to the side of the door. He's angry, but I know he won't do anything about it. Last time we got into it I broke a nose and three ribs, and that was without popped claws and berserker rages.

I looked at the girl and she looked at me. Long dark hair flowing as she stared at me with those piercing green eyes. I sighed…hard. "What are you doing here, X?"

Laura Kinney AKA X-23, my clone…daughter…it's complicated. She was created by the bastard son of the bastard who put the adamantium in my body. She and I haven't always seen eye to eye on things. Hard to raise a girl like her, despite going through the same thing; main difference was I had the X-Men. The only family she ever had died by her own hand. I know what that feels like. Although she made friends at the school, she still left. Old demons will do that to ya.

"I was looking for you." She replied. Straightforward as ever.

I sighed again. "Come on." We walked over to the bar and sat back on my stool, she sat on the one next to me. She stared at me. I hate when she does that. She reached for my face and by the look in her eye I know exactly what she was going for.

"Your face, what happened?" she asked as she traced the scar down my right eye.

"Things got a little hairy on a job." I replied quickly, but I knew she would have follow up questions.

"So you have lost your ability to heal." She said. Sounded like she was confirming a rumor or something.

"You need something from me, kid? Last I heard you were running around with Scott and his band of merry mutant crusaders."

"I was. I left."

"Why?"

"To look for you."

"You didn't have to do that. I don't need ya coddling me." I huffed, tried to get her to back off; but if she's anything like me…

"I'm sorry."

Ok, I wasn't expecting that. I took another gulp of draft. "Sorry for what?"

"I should have stayed at the school."

I could hear the remorse in her voice. Truth is, I never blamed Laura for leavin. She can make her own decisions, she's earned that. I was however angry at myself for not going to find her.

"I'm not angry if that's what you're worried about. You shouldn't have done anything other than what you wanted to do. I should be the last person tellin you how to run your life. Truth is, I shouldn't have let ya leave."

She looked at me, a curious look in her eye. Kid never really did get a handle on reading between the lines.

I scratched the back of my head, think the booze is starting to get to me. "I should have kept you at the school until you healed."

"Logan…"

"I just got wrapped up in my own crap I didn't even pay attention to what ya needed." I still beat myself about what happened to her because of Arcade, hell I spent the better part of the year tracking the bastard down. No luck though.

"I do not blame you, Logan." She said. "You had no way of knowing what was happening."

"Yeah, well I should have." A finished off my beer and called the bartender for another. "No excuse for that."

"How is Jubilee?"

Surprised she asked me that. I almost forgot how close those two got.

"She and the baby are doin fine."

"Baby?" Her pitch raised up a bit. I couldn't help but grin.

"Yeah, Shogo. She adopted him a while back. He's a real handful. How's Pryde?" Even though she left, I couldn't help but think about the spitfire from time to time.

"She is doing well. She is still training the past X-Men."

"How are they getting along?"

"Fine." I could tell by her tone that she didn't wanna talk about it anymore, so I dropped it.

"How are you?" she asked.

"Me?" I took another sip of beer. "I'm fit as I ever was."

"You are lying."

"Well that's not nice."

"Is there a way to return your healing factor?"

"Don't know, not looking for it."

"Why not? Do you wish to die?" I heard a slight hint of distress coming from her.

I put down my mug and stared at it. Her question rolled around in my head. Storm asked me the thing when I went headlong into a Sentinel the other day. Hell, I've lived long enough. What's wrong with wanting to end it on my own terms?

"Breaking news!" the newscaster on the tv shouted.

"Hey, Tula turn that up." I said. The blonde barmaid walked over to the TV and turned the dial. They really oughta upgrade to a flat screen around here.

"Firefighters and paramedics are rushing to the scene as a fire has broken out in the Garden Valley apartments in east Sunnyside. Rescue workers are attempting to douse the flames, as well as save the people still caught in the blaze."

I finished drinking my beer and stood up from the stool. Duty calls.

"Logan, where are you going?" Laura asked.

"I'm going to help those people. You can come with me, or you can stay here and wait. Either way I'm goin." I walked off, suffice to say she was right behind me.

We reached the building in about 3 minutes running at top speed. Laura beat me by a few seconds. Youth must be nice.

We crossed the caution tape and looked up at the building. Thing was lit like a damn Christmas tree, one can only wonder what the hell caused it.

"Sir, you and your daughter aren't allowed to be here." One of the firefighters said walking up to us. Even though anybody would have made that assumption about me and X, it still ticked me off a little. I flashed him my Avengers card and he backed up. Still surprised how often that thing gets me into places.

"Who's she?" he pointed at X.

"My sidekick. Now what's going on?"

"We've managed to evacuate the lower floors but people are still trapped inside. The boards are too heavy for us to move."

"You should stay out here." Laura suggested to me. "I will go in."

"Not happenin." I popped my claws. "You're stayin out here and helpin them take care of the injured. I'll go in and rescue the people still trapped inside."

"Logan-"

"No arguing. I go. You stay. End of story." I ran into the building before she could say another word. I know she didn't like me going in alone. Hell, even I thought it was dumb.

I burst in through the front door. To my pleasant surprise, most of the fire had been cleared from the first two floors. Thank the man upstairs for firemen. I could smell the smoke coming from upstairs and made my way up. The closer I got to the top, the hotter it got. The smoke was filling my lungs something fierce, had to cover my nose and mouth with my shirt to keep goin.

I reached the fifth floor, narrowly avoiding a falling beam. Close one, X would have cut my head off if she saw that.

"Anybody up here!" I yelled through my coughs. I carefully made my way through the flames, trying my best not to burn my hairy butt.

"In here! Please help us!" A voice called from behind a door.

I kicked it open, there was fire everywhere in the room. "Where are ya?!" I called out, hopin that whoever I heard was still breathinn.

"We're…in here!" the voice called out again.

I looked to my left and saw a door blocked by burning beams. I ran up to it. "How many of you are in there?!"

"Three! Me, and my two children!" from the voice it sounded like a woman. "Please save us!"

"Alright, stand back from the door!" I yelled. "Are you back?!"

"Yes!" the woman replied.

"Alright, hold on!" I slashed at the beams, the heat from the flames singed my knuckles but I kept goin. I had to. After about a minute I moved the blockage out and kicked the door down. I peeked inside, seeing the young mother and her two kids, a boy and a girl. They couldn't have been older than six.

"Come on!" I yelled, motioning towards the exit.

"Thank you so much." The woman said. "Come on you two." She said to her kids. The three of them filed out of the bedroom.

"Keep your heads low." I said. "Lessens the smoke inhalation."

They followed my directions as we moved out. We almost made it to the door before another beam gave way. The mother looked up in fright.

I pushed them out of the way. Good for them, but bad for me. I was trapped, one of the edges of the beam stuck in my leg. I couldn't move.

"Oh my god!" the mother shouted in shock.

"Don't worry about me." I strained. "Just go!"

"But-"

"Now!" I roared before she had a chance to protest. She and the kids gave me hesitant look before exiting the room.

The fire started to burn my skin, and the smoke stung my eyes. Oddly enough, I was smiling. Is it because I saved that family? One last good deed before I bite the big one? Or am I just insane and smiling in the face of death because it seems cool? Probably both. Either way, my visions starting to go dark, guess this is it...

…

Don't know how much time passed before I opened my eyes again. Where am I? Heaven? Where ever I was it definitely wasn't hell, I could see that much. Window to my left, dresser on my right, door in the wall facing my bed. I'm at the school?

"You're awake." A voice to my left said.

I turned my head. "Laura?" Sure enough there she was, sitting next to my bed. A book in her hand.

"You have been asleep for 36 hours." She told me. "I brought you back to the school and watched over you as you recovered."

From the look on her face I could tell she wasn't lyin. I could see the bags under her eyes. "Get much sleep?" I asked sarcastically.

"No. I made sure no one would come for you while you slept." She answered plainly. Girl never did understand sarcasm that well.

"I told you not to go in the building." I said as I looked back at the ceiling.

"You didn't come out after some time." She replied. "So I went in to find you."

"I gave you an order."

"I chose not to follow it." Gotta admit, that line made me grin a bit. "You should have not gone inside on your own. You no longer have your healing factor."

"Doesn't mean I was gonna let those people die."

"I was not going to let you die either."

"Not your decision to make."

We sat in silence for a few minutes after that. I coulda been a bit nicer to the kid, but I had my pride. Honestly that's probably why so many people want my damn head on a plate.

"I…" Laura began. "I do not like the thought of you dying. It…frightens me."

I wanted to speak, but I figured this was one of those situations where you just shut up and let everything flow out naturally. Gotta admit though, its kinda nice to hear the kid open up like this.

"If you were to die. I would be…lost. I don't know what I would do." I saw her clutch her chest, sounded like she was holding back a cry. Can't be, X never cries. "The thought of it hurts my chest. I don't like this feeling."

I sat up, my ribs were still sore from the beams falling on me. I looked out the window and sighed. "I'm not going anywhere anytime soon, kid. Looks like you're stuck with me for a little longer."

"You're finally up?" A loud voice burst into the room. I didn't even have to look to tell it was Jubilee, Shogo in tow.

"You been outside the whole time?" I asked looking back at her.

"Yeah." She nodded. "We would have come in earlier, but Laura wouldn't let anyone see you until you woke up. She was like your own personal bodyguard." She lifted Shogo into the air. "Auntie Laura's scary isn't she?" she cooed to the giggling baby.

"You really didn't let anyone in?" I asked Laura.

"You didn't need any disturbances while you recovered." She answered.

"So we're a disturbance now?" Jubilee teased.

"I did not say that." Laura retorted.

As I watched the two pull their Abbot and Costello routine I managed to crack a smile. Must have been weak from the injuries. "Look…" I began, grabbing the girl's attention. "If I to sit here and listen to you two recite 'who's on first?' Imma need a beer."

Jubilee smiled. "Coming right up, boss." She saluted as she and Shogo exited the room.

"You should not consume alcohol while you're still recovering." Laura said. Sounded more like a nag to me.

"Hey, you're my clone…daughter. Not my mother." I looked down at the book she was holding in her lap. "I didn't peg you as a reader. What book is that?"

Laura looked down. "Pinocchio." She answered. "Beast found it for me in the school library."

"Any reason you're reading the children's book and not watching the children's movie?"

She got quiet for a second. "My mother used to read it to me. When I was in the facility."

Damn. Didn't mean to bring up bitter memories.

"I'm sorry."

Laura shook her head. "You did not know."

Jubilee came back into the room with a six pack. I woulda been happier about it if I didn't just make an ass of myself a few seconds earlier.

"Who died?" she asked as she walked in the room. She looked at Laura's book, and she knew what went on. "You know it's about story time for Shogo." She said, taking Laura's book. Girl always knew how to talk herself out of a situation. Must be the mallrat in her. "Here Logan, why don't you read?" She handed me the book.

"Why me?" I asked in surprise as I took the book. "He ain't my kid."

"It's not like you have anything else to do." She retorted.

"Still not doin it."

"Then I guess you don't want this beer." She said with a grin, holding up the case.

"You know I could gut you and take it right?"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. Just read."

I huffed and cracked open the book. Jubilee knows she's one of the few people who can push my buttons and get away with it. As I started reading, I could start to see Laura smile out the corner of my eye. It was a small one, but it made me smile nonetheless.

Shogo fell asleep as soon as I finished the book. Jubilee left the room to put him to bed, once again leaving me and X alone.

"You goin back to Scott once I'm done healing up?" I asked.

"No. I am staying." She replied. Gotta admit it surprised me.

I rubbed the back of my head in irritation. "I told ya I don't need you to caudle me. I'm not a baby."

"No, you are reckless, and impulsive, and stubborn. If you are not being watched you will kill yourself." She said to me. My eyes opened a bit.

"X…" I began before she cut me off.

"You told me that I should be able to make my own choices. I am choosing to stay here, with you, and Jubilee, and Storm, and Beast."

I looked at the resolute look on her face, it was refreshing to see her like that. She wasn't completely healed, but she just took a big step. Couldn't help but be proud of her. I smirked back at her.

"Fine, but if you're stayin here you gotta follow the rules. You're gonna go to class and no poppin claws unless I say so, got it?"

"Yes." She nodded.

"Good." I grinned. "Now hand me one of those beers."

...

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><p><strong>Took a break from things to make this one-shot about two of my favorite comic book characters. I really like the relationship Laura and Logan have so I wanted to explore it. Especially since she's being written so terribly right now. Anyways let me know what you think and thanks for reading. :)<strong>


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